Is e-pass required for air travel? How to apply for an e-pass online?

Update as of August 24th 2020: In a recent announcement, the central government has asked the states to end the e-pass curfew for inter-state and inter-district movement. However, the state governments may or may not lift the travel restrictions depending on their assessment of the situation. Many states including Tamil Nadu still observe restrictions on non-essential travel. Some states have started allowing instant e-pass. You need a valid ePass for inter-district and inter-state travel for such states. Read state-wise ePass rules carefully before travelling.

Apply for an ePass online:

• Tamil Nadu
• Kerala
• Karnataka
• Maharashtra
• West Bengal
• Delhi

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Do you need an ePass for air travel? If yes, how and where to apply for an ePass online? Here are the top questions about ePass and air travel, answered.

Is ePass required for air travel?

Following the lockdown 2.0 de-escalation that allows domestic flights to resume services, the government has made it mandatory for travellers to obtain an ePass for interstate travel. Luckily for us, the Travel Ministry has launched a website where we can apply for an ePass online for 17 states across the country. This excludes some major states and the Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri hints that the scale at which each state restarts domestic flights depends on their own travel guidelines.

It has been a long day of hard negotiations with various state govts to recommence civil aviation operations in the country.

Except Andhra Pradesh which will start on 26/5 & West Bengal on 28/5, domestic flights will recommence across the country from tomorrow.

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) May 24, 2020

He says more flights will be recommenced in a calibrated manner soon and that the airline operations are smooth till now.

Our skies & airports are busy again.

On 26th May, the 2nd day of recommencement of domestic passenger flights in India our airports handled 62,641 flyers on 445 departures & 447 arrivals. 

All airport functioning was smooth. Only 6 departures were rescheduled.@MoCA_GoI

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) May 27, 2020

Read more about the latest air travel guidelines.

How to apply for an ePass online?

1. Visit the official website from where you will be redirected to your state’s website.

2. Select your departure state from the list of options.

3. Register and verify with your mobile number.

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4. Fill the form with passenger details and recheck before submitting.

5. You need to upload scanned copies of the requisite documents. Keep them ready before applying.

6. After submitting, note the unique application reference number and save it so you can track your application status in future.

7. Once processed, you will receive an SMS with the link to download your ePass. It contains details such as your name, address, validity and a QR code.

8. Along with the copy on your phone, it’s better to keep a printed copy of the ePass before travelling.

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Also read: Latest COVID-19 travel updates from 21+ countries